What Happened?
by sezkyfranzosisch
Summary: The title is basically self explanitory. Charlie goes through a series of different sources and ends up getting a lot of them killed. He will know the truth it will just take him a grand adventure to uncover it.
1. The Others

**THE OTHERS**

After Jack checked him out and made sure he was okay, Charlie decided to sleep. Once he fell asleep, he had no memory of being missing from the group. He woke up several times, wondering where he was, for the last thing he remembed was standing next to Claire when Ethan showed up in front of them. Not knowing what happened, he was trying to relax; he slowly shut his eyes, only to be rudely awakened by the two most unlikely of creatures.

"No, Pip, you _can't_. You _know_ you can't have any more sugar. Remember what happened last time?"

"I can control myself! I am older, and much wiser, Merry."

"_Wise_?! _You_!? AHA! You oughta be kidding!"

Charlie opened his eyes, and wouldn't budge. They sounded strangely familiar, but yet... not. There _were_ others on this island... Charlie listened intently, without moving a muscle.

"Look! People!"

"Pip... _shush_! You wouldn't want them to wake and stove your head in!"

"Oh please, Merry. That nice Ethan man was very nice to me."

"No he wasn't! He used a tranquilizer on you!"

"But I was tranquil... not many can do that."

smacks forehead "Pippin... do you remember what he told us?"

"Yes! He told us, 'You stupid Hobbits! You can't tell anyone that Claire has something of mine! She has my own, my precious'..."

Charlie jumped up. "WHAT!?"

The Hobbits stood there in shock.

"Was he awake the whole time, Merry?" Pippin whispered, afraid.

Charlie was a bit surprised. He was not expecting two short men to be a few yards away from him.

"Hey... _you_!" Merry called out. "You look good!"

"Uh, thank you?" reacted Charlie. "But what were you saying about Claire?"

"Merry, tell him what I was saying about Claire..."

"Shut up, Pip! You know we can't! And you were about to have us killed!"

"How?"

"Pippin..."

"I'm sorry! I won't do it again!"

"_STOP FIGHTING_! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" snapped an unconcious Jack.

Merry and Pippin stood in sheer terror.

"Boys..." Charlie whispered as he approached them. "What can you tell me about Claire? I promise, I won't tell _anybody_..."

Merry and Pippin exchanged glances, and then nodded. They stared at Charlie and at almost an instant, the two of them charged at Charlie's legs, knocking him down. They jumped on his chest.

"Promise!?" Pippin interrogated.

"I... I promise!" Charlie replied, crossing his fingers behind him.

"Well, we won't be able to tell you here. They're watching... always watching..." Merry whispered. "But we know where to go. And you need to know... you aren't safe here. Oh God, if Ethan heard me say that..." he whimpered.

"Merry! Don't worry! We'll be fine!" Pippin reassured.

"You _stupid_ Hobbits..." said a voice from afar.

A gunshot went off in the air, and someone lost their life. There was pandemonium at the camp, as everyone frantically searched around them for the source of the shot. There was no other shot fired that night. The only question that remains... _**who died?**_


	2. Only Charlie

**ONLY CHARLIE**

The two alive remained unconcious. As the camp was frantically moving about, Jack approached the Hobbits and Charlie.

"Oh no..." he moaned, as he turned over the two Hobbits. As confused as Jack was as to why two short men were lying on top of Charlie, he was sobbing nonetheless. No one deserved to have their lives taken in such a brutal way.

Charlie coughed.

"Charlie!" Jack exclaimed, and tried to give him a hug, but couldn't due to the Hobbits.

"I had the most horrible dream..." Charlie replied, almost not paying attention to the sounds and screams around him. "I dreamt that I saw these two small people... and they... they _knew_ something... something dreadful... oh, I'm so dizzy..."

"I'm not so... sure you were dreaming, Charlie..." Jack whispered, and he motioned his head towards the two Hobbits lying on him.

Charlie jumped back, almost kicking the Hobbits off. "Oh no... I remember now..."

"What?"

"Jack... we're not _safe_ here!"

"Tell me something I don't know." Jack joked.

Charlie smirked. "I know... but these... small men... they were trying to warn me... of something... but..." He was near tears. "That shot went off... and... that one died!"

"Aren't they _both_ dead?" Jack asked, concerned and uneasy.

"No, they can't be... only one shot was fired..."

"Brilliant."

"What's so brilliant? One of them died!"

"But we still have a source... we're this much closer to finding Claire, Charlie. Do you understand?"

Charlie nodded.

"Now listen... any information we can gain through this man, we will. We will find Claire Charlie, don't you worry."

Charlie nodded again. "But..."

"But what?"

"They're always watching..." Charlie whispered. "That's what they told me... before _it_ happened."

"Charlie, maybe you can... try to wake up the man. Break the news to him about his friend, and we'll take it from there. I have to take care of everyone else... they're not too pleased at the sound of the gunshot." Jack replied. "We'll talk." He got up slowly, and then ran to Kate, who seemed the most distraught.

Charlie felt horrible. These two beings had seemed so much like brothers... quarreling but then again working as a team. He did not want to be the one to tell him his companion had passed away. Hand shaking, he took hold of the Hobbit's shoulder and shook him roughly.

The Hobbit opened his eyes. "Sir..." Charlie started, voice cracking.

His eyes widened. "Pip!? WHERE'S PIP??"

Charlie lowered his head. Just hearing the worry in the poor Hobbit's voice was enough for him to break down. But, as he did not know how he was able to, he uttered the words, "Your friend... _passed_... from the shot."

"_Passed_? No... can't be... not Pippin... _no_..." denied Merry.

A tear started streaming down Charlie's cheek. "I'm... so _sorry_, Sir..." He nodded to Pippin's body.

The expression on Merry's face was too difficult for Charlie, or even for anyone to bear. It seemed as if the morning had grown darker just by his bawling. "NOOOO!!!!" he cried. "_NOOOOOO_!!!!!" He eyed the stream of blood on Pippin's white dress shirt, and sobbed even more, burying his face into his hands.

Jack, hearing the scream, rushed over to Charlie and Merry. "Things don't appear to be going very well," he whispered to Charlie.

"No... not at all..." Charlie retorted quietly.

"What's your name, Sir?" Jack asked Merry.

There was no answer from Merry.

"Sir?"

Still no answer.

"Jack... please... can you not see the pain he's going through?" Charlie snapped, voice cracking.

"I've learned how to face pain with an apathetic expression, Charlie. Now if you can't tell from the surroundings, we _need_ to get out of this camp and move back to the beach."

"No." sniffled Merry.

"What?"

"You _can't_ go back to the beach... it's far worse." Merry warned. "They can see even better there... everything you're doing, _everything_..."

"Jack!" called Kate. "Hurley's not... looking... too good..."

Jack groaned. "I'll be right there!" Jack rushed back over to Hurley and helped him.

Merry's eyes were bloodshot red. "Charlie..." he said quietly. "Just shoot me... take my life, so I can join him... so we won't be separated again, like we were so many years ago..."

Charlie shook his head. "No... Sir..."

"Merry!" he interrupted. "My name is Merry..."

"Okay... Merry... listen..." Charlie lowered his voice to a whisper. "Show me the place where you can tell me what you were going to tell me... now more than ever... we need to know the danger we're in."

Merry stared blankly at Charlie. After a long while, he nodded. "Agreed. But it must only be _you_."

"What?"

"Only you. I will show only you. And you mustn't tell _anyone_."

"But..."

"No! Not _anyone_!" Merry slowly brought himself to his feet. He grabbed Charlie by the arm, and began running with him through the mass of the forest.

And so it began: The ultimate quest of truth.


	3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

**CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY**

It seemed as if they were going for miles and miles. Charlie came to a sudden halt.

"What do you think you're doing?" Merry hissed. "We've got to hurry or else we'll be seen!"

Charlie was panting. "I… can't… go any… further… we must've been going for hours… and miles…"

"Your point is?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

Merry rolled his eyes. "You didn't actually think I was going to tell you, did you?"

Charlie looked confused.

Merry shook his head and tugged on Charlie's arm. "Come now, we haven't got much time to lose."

After twenty-five hours of leaving the camp, Merry had brought Charlie in the depths of the deepest cave he had even seen. It was immensely dark—Charlie was surprised that Merry knew where he was going once they had reached the cave.

"Jump." Merry whispered.

"Where are we?" Charlie said wearily.

"I said, JUMP!" Merry hissed. "On my count. One… two… three!"

And on the count of three, they jumped. And to Charlie's surprise, they were in the greenest of land. The trees and plants were lush, with nice growing fruit. There were buildings in bright colors. It was the most tranquil place Charlie had ever been in—so calm and so soothing. However, the river that ran through the place was a dark, musky, _brown_ color…

"Hello, and you must be Charlie!" exclaimed a high-pitched voice. All of a sudden, a man with a top hat and purple lipstick appeared. He walked towards Charlie with an unnaturally huge grin on his face. "I'm—"

"Park it, Wonka," interrupted Merry. "We're not here because of your golden ticket scam."

"Oh." The man said, disappointed. "Well, then, just don't _touch_ anything. Especially that river!" And he disappeared.

"Where in the world are we?" Charlie screeched.

"Shh, not so loud!" Merry whispered. "You'll disturb the Oompa Loompas!"

"Oompa WHAT?"

"Do you want to know what's going on or don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Then sit down and you better listen up!" The both of them sat down in the oddly feeling grass. "This island that you're on, that you can't get off of…"

"Sure we can! Once the raft is finished…"

"Shut up! And, no you can't. There's no possible way for you to get off. You're stuck."

"What?"

"If you try to get off, it will pull you back in."

"What?"

"Just _listen_ to me!"

"How do you know all this?"

Merry sighed. "You really _want_ me to start from the beginning?"

"Yes."

"You positive?"

"Yes."

"You're absolutely sure?"

"Yes!"

"Really?"

"Just get on with it, will you?"

"Well, then, here it goes…"

Charlie listened intently as Merry went through his story. It was almost as if it was played out for him, like a film in his mind…


	4. Of Plump, Unrecognizable Hobbits

**OF PLUMP, UNRECOGNIZABLE HOBBITS**

"Pippin! Goshdarnit, would you stop _running_ so fast!" called out Merry.

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!" Pippin taunted.

"_Where_ are you going, anyway?"

"Whee!"

"PIPPIN! We're going in circles!"

"I _know_! Isn't it great?"

The two Hobbits were seen running around Bag End for nearly five hours… and Merry had just begun wearing out. After what seemed like the millionth lap, he collapsed face first into the grass, panting and sweating bucketloads. After a few minutes, he caught the vision of two large hairy feet tapping next to his head. Merry slowly lifted his head.

"See? Told you you couldn't catch me!" Pippin smirked.

"Everything's always a game for you, isn't it, Pip?" Merry retorted.

"Well, saving Middle-Earth couldn't have been done without a few games. Otherwise, it would have just been _boring_…"

The two shared a laugh as Pippin aided Merry in standing up.

"I sure do miss Frodo, though." Pippin said.

"Yes. Sam too. Always busy with his gabazillion children and what not." Merry joked.

"Say, why don't we walk down to the pub, for old times' sake?"

"Why not? And invent another drinking song while we're at it!"

They skipped on over to their local pub, sharing many jokes and laughs along the way. Once they entered, they were greeted with their many fellow Hobbits, and they ordered several drinks.

"Rats. They don't have pints here. That's something I've _always_ missed about our journey." reminisced Merry.

"It comes in pints?"

"Pippin!"

pause "Say… who's that man… over there?"

Pippin pointed to a hooded man in a black coat. He was most _certainly_ not a Hobbit, but not a figure like Gandalf either. Merry and Pippin both looked over, only to catch a frightening glance from the hooded man.

"Don't look at him any longer, Pip." Merry said under his breath.

"I'm with you." Pippin hastily replied as he took another sip of his drink.

A rather plump, unrecognizable Hobbit approached Merry and Pippin.

"Say, you two have had rather a lot to drink…" he said suspiciously.

"Ah, yes, gladly," Pippin replied. "And who are you? You are rather plump and unrecognizable."

"Pippin!" Merry hissed.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," chuckled the Hobbit, "I get that quite a lot. But, why don't you two follow me in a little conversation about the effects drinking can have on our tiny bodies…"

"And why would _we_ want to do that?" Merry interrogated. "We seem to be perfectly content—why not ask some of the other Hobbits around us… who are _really_ showing the effects of too much drinking…" Merry motioned to a Hobbit trying to eat the hairs off his foot.

"Well, then I wouldn't be able to have an intelligent conversation with a drinker, would I?" the Hobbit replied.

"Merry, he seems harmless," Pippin whispered so the Hobbit couldn't hear. "Let's just go and listen to his rubbish and come back for a few more drinks."

Merry remained silent for a long while before saying, "Agreed."

The two Hobbits stood up and walked alongside the plump, unrecognizable Hobbit, as he mysteriously looked off behind them and gave a suspicious nod…

The two Hobbits returned to their seat, laughing the hardest they had in the past five minutes.

"Could you _believe_ the things he said?" Pippin choked, laughing like a maniac.

"What a load of rubbish!" Merry replied, taking a huge sip of his unfinished drink.

"AHA! Yeah!" Pippin snorted, copying Merry's huge sip with his own drink.

The two Hobbits laughed their way into a deep sleep. They had not been expecting their heartwarming gathering to take such a turn. The plump, unrecognizable Hobbit remained a complete mystery to them. Where they woke up was _really_ unexpected…


End file.
